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[omega2018]

my rescuemycar breakdown cover is due up soon and as usual they have increased the premium, now £31.99.  they have been good but the annual increases are annoying, as well as the fact that rescuemycar offer new customers only, 21% discount.  for similar cover aa want £49, rac £60, green flag £58 and startrescue.co.uk £30.57 (all after cashback).

so startrescue is the only contender here.  has anyone used them?  what is pushing me to them (apart from them being the cheapest) is they don't seem to have the rescuemycar  per callout excess of £40.  Also their terms and conditions look refreshingly straightforward - e.g. 9 pages v rescuemycar's 21 pages.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Check Start Rescue don't have an age limit.  Many of the cheaper breakdown outfits don't cover cars over 16 years old, and my premium with Rescuemycar.com went up from £18odd up to £34odd because it's now over 16 years. 

I've switched to AutoAid Breakdown because they don't have an age limit, and I now have a personal cover policy because I run 2 cars over 16 years old.  The premium was about £35 via MoneySuperMarket! 

I've no idea what they are like and I'm sure this will become a long thread telling me that I'll die by the side of the road waiting for them!    So if you see a rusty Omega by the side of the road with a skeleton sat by it, that'll be me!     

[Andy B]

they both sound good price wise. My personal cover including all singing all dancing MayDay with caravan recovery etc etc was aboout £130 the other week

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I was with Autoaid for years and found them pretty good. Earlier this year they were bought out by another company, who apparently have a poor reputation, so I didn't renew. I'm currently without cover, and need to find the best option.

[Doctor Gollum]

Previous bank provided full AA cover. No complaints apart from the controller sending a response van instead of the requested flatbed to a snapped wishbone 

Current bank also provide full cover, but with Britannia or similar ... a little less fluid than AA cover, but again no complaints so far.

If I had to buy my cover I would return to the AA fwiw

No point buying £35 cover if it costs you another £40 everytime you use it

[Sir Tigger KC]

No point buying £35 cover if it costs you another £40 everytime you use it

Rescuemycar used to cost me £18 a year!  And there were years when I didn't use it, so well in pocket! 

There was one year when I called them out 3 times however, so was out of pocket that year! 

If I get a newer car at some point, I'll sign up with resucemycar.com again as they're very good! 

[omega2018]

yes I had 2 good experiences with rescuemycar - tow home when alternator reg failed and Ok when crank sensor played up - annoyingly when truck arrived engine started so i didn't get it replaced for free (i had a spare in the boot). truck driver just followed me for a mile or so and i made it home.

however that was when it was £18 a year, plus £40 excess. 

so now have gone with startrescue.co.uk.  has a good feel so far - no charge for credit card unlike rescuemycar which is nice.  no excess.  no ambiguity about getting a tow home or not.  one tiny irritation - calls to their breakdown centre cost 7p a minute.  cheaper than £40 a time though.

[TheBoy]

I pay the RAC about £80. That's for joint membership, any car, breakdown and tow anywhere in UK, but not home start. AA are usually around the same and have slightly better membership benefits, but they weren't prepared to negotiate on their last renewal. RAC sent through a stupid renewal price, but we soon sorted that after a little "I'm cancelling" chat.


No idea how good they are, not needed them. Its more piece of mind for her up and down the motorway, and I'm often doing long hours or away, so can't rescue her.

[Nick W]

Having spent several years actually doing work for most of the breakdown providers, my advice is to avoid ALL of the cheap ones that you've never previously heard of. If you can't take that, then you must read the terms and conditions, as there will be a lot of things you think you've paid for but won't get. That's over and above the specialist equipment charges(like getting the car out of a multi-storey carpark, winching off walls, loading an automatic that's stuck in park, getting a locked car out of your garage etc etc) that none of them cover.


If you're expecting a man in a van to turn up and try and fix the car, your options are the AA and RAC. But even  that's unlikely to happen if you break down after 10pm, and they're notorious for sitting on jobs for hours and then passing them off to contractors. Green Flag's service has got a lot worse since they went to a few 'super-contractors' rather than lots of small ones. If I were going to start from scratch, I would choose Britannia Rescue as they were always the most professional and rarely caused problems.

[Sir Tigger KC]

I was with the RAC years ago. 

If you need them, you'll grow a very big beard while you're waiting for them to show up!     

[TheBoy]

I was with the RAC years ago. 

If you need them, you'll grow a very big beard while you're waiting for them to show up!     

I once waited about 7hrs for them when I got a puncture once.  'elf and safety at our place said we weren't allowed to replace wheels on transits (so they took the tools away), and had to call RAC.

[2boxerdogs]

Been with Britannia Rescue for several years now, always been excellent on the occasions I have needed them.